With the onset of cold weather, doctors reminded people of the existence of effective and inexpensive means to protect the body from infections.
The most important vitamins for strengthening the immune system are vitamins C and B12, found in citrus fruits.
Also, the human body needs selenium and manganese. Selenium can be found in oatmeal and buckwheat, while manganese is found in nuts. Doctors advise introducing iron into the diet, which is rich in meat.
Do not forget about lard. Doctors recommend grinding bacon with ginger, cinnamon and cloves. For a healing effect, you should consume about 4 teaspoons of lard.
Is pork fat good or bad?
For centuries, neither Russians, nor Poles, nor Anglo-Saxons have done without lard, and many people in Ukraine are still associated exclusively with this product. They ate it with bread, they ate alcohol with it, fried and stewed it on it. To dream about lard was considered a good omen: to wealth and health. In general, fat did not take root only in hot eastern countries, and even then only because of quick spoilage. However, the modern fashion for thin young ladies has elevated low-calorie diets into a cult, and any fat, especially animal fat, has been sent to the "forbidden" list. Lard disappeared from our tables and began to grow overgrown with monstrous legends. Today we will look at the myths about the dangers of lard and find out how true they are.
They get fat from fat
Recover not from fat, but from its amount! You can get fat from the most useful oatmeal, if you eat it in bags. If you are a regular sedentary or so, you should be given 10-30 grams of lard per day. If you are already obese and you are prescribed a low-calorie diet - no more than 10 g per day.
Distinguish "true" lard - subcutaneous fat, right with the skin - from similar foods. Bacon, neck, etc. - not subcutaneous, but intramuscular fat. In addition, together with protein, that is, meat, and such a mixture is no longer so good. The most useful lard is simply salted, with garlic or pepper. Good and smoked, but only "homemade", with a smoke. At meat processing plants, lard, brisket and other pork delights are smoked in liquid, and this is not comme il faut, the properties of the product do not change for the better.
Lard is a heavy food
Not certainly in that way. In a healthy person with a normal stomach, real lard is very well absorbed and does not overload the liver. In general, the most valuable fats for us are those that melt at the temperature of our body, i.e. about 37.0. They are digested and absorbed more completely and faster than others. Their list is headed by lard.
But, of course, lard, like any fat, requires bile and lipases (special substances in the stomach and intestines) for its digestion. Therefore, in case of disturbances in the production of bile and saponification of fats, doctors do not recommend eating it.
Lard is full of fat
And great! Because it is a wonderful structure - subcutaneous fat, in which cells and biologically active substances have been preserved.
For example, the most valuable of the fatty acids is polyunsaturated arachidonic acid. It is very rare; it is not found in vegetable oils at all. You can't live without it. Arachidonic acid is a part of all cell membranes and is needed by the heart muscle. In addition, hormones, immune reactions and cholesterol metabolism cannot do without it.
There are also other essential fatty acids (they are called vitamin F) - linoleic, linolenic, palmitic, oleic. By their content, by the way, lard is close to vegetable oils. Do not forget about fat-soluble vitamins A (here it is up to 1.5 mg per 100 g), D, E, as well as carotene. As a result, the biological activity of lard is 5 times higher than that of oil. So in winter "pork product" is just what is needed to maintain vitality and immunity.
This terrible cholesterol
Yes, it is present here, but even less than in cow oil. And there is nothing wrong with it. Do you think it will immediately begin to be deposited on the walls of the arteries and atherosclerosis will begin? Nothing like this! Doctors have long established that the amount of cholesterol in the blood and tissues depends little on how much you eat. This substance is perfectly synthesized, even if you do not eat it at all. Therefore, cholesterol metabolism is much more important: what the body will receive, how much it will make and how it uses it.
By the way, arachidonic, linoleic and linoleic fatty acids just "clean" the vessels from deposits. So a small piece of lard with vitamin F is only beneficial in the prevention of atherosclerosis. And the cholesterol in it will go, for example, to create immune cells (lymphocytes and macrophages) that save the body from viruses and other enemies-pathogens. Even intelligence without cholesterol is nowhere - in the brain it is more than 2%.
Healthy fat
Fat should be about 30% of your daily calories. (Please note: do not eat 30% of fat, but get 30% of all energy from it.) Simply put - 60-80 g per day. And among them, only a third are vegetable fats. We need 10% polyunsaturated fatty acids, 30% saturated, and a whopping 60% monounsaturated. Such a ratio of acids is found in: yes, lard, as well as in peanut and olive oils.
Fried bacon is harmful
Yes, when frying fat, it loses some of its beneficial properties and acquires toxins and carcinogens. But vegetable oils do not behave any better. It is necessary to heat them for a while, as they abruptly cease to be absorbed. But the warmed lard, on the contrary, is absorbed better than in cold or hot-fried. So the way out is simple: the lard should not be fried to the state of cracklings, but heated over low heat.
With bread? In no case
Paradox: bacon with bread - just what the doctor ordered! An amazing natural combination, in which both products are perfectly digestible. Of course, this does not mean pampushki buns, but grain bread, made from coarse flour or with the addition of bran. Of course, this is for healthy people who do not suffer from obesity and digestive problems.
When losing weight, do not forget, too, fat: it is an excellent source of energy. The dietary option is to eat lard with vegetables, for example, with cabbage. You can take a bite, or you can make a hodgepodge with it, just don't overcook it.
But gastronomic pleasures such as bacon are really not worth putting on bread. In general, when losing weight, they are allowed in microscopic quantities - about 5 g. But this is quite enough to give a taste, for example, to stewed cabbage, carrots or beets on duty.
Better under the vodka
This is the honest truth - lard is a wonderful companion to alcohol. Mainly because it doesn't allow you to get drunk quickly. Fatty lard envelops the stomach and does not allow the drink with degrees to be absorbed there instantly. Of course, alcohol will still be absorbed, but only later, in the intestines, and gradually.
Alcohol, on the other hand, helps to digest fat faster and break it down into components. By the way, it is not at all necessary to use lard with vodka, that is, with vodka! It tastes much better with a glass of dry red wine.
Salted lard
"The more natural the fat, the better!" Salted lard perfectly meets this requirement of modern dietetics.
If the fat is soft, oily, spreading, it means that the pig was overfed with corn. If the fat is tough, it means that the pig sat hungry for a long time. And the most delicious and dense bacon is obtained if the animal ate "pig-like" - acorns.
The most useful lard is 2.5 cm under the skin.
A piece of bacon is a great "snack" during working hours. It is well absorbed, does not overload the liver and provides as much as 9 kcal of energy per 1 g of product. It is much healthier than even the most expensive sausage, bun or pies.
Nowadays, there are even diets based on moderate consumption of fat. They say that if you eat a couple of pieces of lard on an empty stomach, you can quickly achieve a feeling of fullness. This will prevent you from overeating and you will be able to maintain a good figure.
However, remember that lard, like all fatty foods, should be eaten in small amounts, preferably with warm or easily digestible foods. The recommended norm is no more than 100-150 g of lard per week. And with a sedentary lifestyle, after 50 years, as well as with hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis, its use should be sharply reduced.
In the subcutaneous fat of pigs, cells and biologically active substances are preserved, which determines its usefulness. It contains many vitamins A, D, E and carotene. The composition of lard contains such an important substance as arachidonic acid, which belongs to polyunsaturated fatty acids. This substance is found in the heart tissue, brain, kidneys, it is necessary to improve their work. Pork lard has anti-cancer properties, removes toxins from the body, cleanses blood vessels from "harmful" cholesterol (especially together with garlic).
Other useful properties of lard: helps with pulmonary diseases; heals the liver; removes heavy metals from the body; parasites-helminths do not live in it. The beneficial properties of lard are better manifested if consumed in moderation (no more than 100 g per day). As for the danger of obesity, in America, where they do not eat real lard, there are many times more obese than in Ukraine, where they eat lard every day.
It should be noted that arachidonic acid, which is necessary for the human body, is contained only in lard and is not found in vegetable oils. Judging by the composition of substances useful to humans, lard is necessary to maintain immunity and general vitality, especially in the cold season. Only seal fat can be compared with it, by the way, it is close in composition. The biological activity of lard is about 5 times higher than that of butter or what we now sell under the guise of butter. Pork fat is also useful because it melts at the temperature of the human body and, as a result, is better absorbed by the body.
In folk medicine, it is used for many diseases: for pain in the joints, to improve their mobility in trauma, with weeping eczema, against toothache and mastitis, for the treatment of heel spurs and for a hangover. By the way, combining lard with vegetables is an excellent diet! A good combination is salted lard and vegetables seasoned with unrefined sunflower oil and / or natural apple or grape vinegar.
In conclusion, I would like to note that a person needs to take 10% polyunsaturated, 30% saturated and 60% monounsaturated fatty acids with food. This content is found only in peanut and olive oils, and also … in lard! So those who love lard, eat it for health, but know when to stop.